Overpopulation

[Socrates]

Michael Crichton, in [i]State of Fear[/i] , put it this way:

[quote]I conclude that most environmental "principles" (such as sustainable development and the precautionary principle) have the effect of preserving the economic advantages of the West and thus constitute imperialism toward the developing world.  It is a nice way of saying, "We got ours and we don't want you to get yours because you'll cause too much pollution."[/quote]

Edited February 9, 2005 by Socrates

[yiannii]

I am very concerned about the environment and have decided to do my bit. When I finish studying at University and get my degree, start working full time etc - I plan to ditch my car and move into the city where I won't need to drive (one less car on the orad). I will not buy a plot of land to build a house (one less bit of land cleared in the outer suburbs).

I believe that in the large cities urban sprawl should be halted and we should make the best use of the land we have already cleared, instead of clearing more and more for the sake of "comfort". The further we sprawl the more land cleared and more roads needed and consequently the more petrol burned to get people from A to B.

If we condense the land already taken we can focus on building more farms and planting more trees in the outskirts of the cities.

Melbourne is a great example - in the next 15 years an old dockland in the city will be converted into a dense residential zone - creating over 8000 apartments and housing over 20 000 residence. Because this is a dense residential zone there can be sufficient transport planning (e.g. busses and trams - the most important) and because of the dense planning all utilities will be close by.

That is over 8000 less plots of land cleared and roughly (lets say) 10 000 less cars on the road.

Just some thoughts.

[MichaelFilo]

Have more babies...


With that said, overconsumption of resources is a problem. We live in so much excess that we can't be leaving things unharmed. We still destroy habitats to have new areas to build, and all that good stuff. It's clear animals do go extinct and such, and it's all because of excess, not over population. 10 people can live in the same apartment, or have 10 houses each with his own 10 acres. The problem is, those 10 acres aren't being used wisely, they are excessive. So, personally, we need more children, but more management of what we do use, so that habitats aren't destroyed. We won't die of starvation, but we are destroying things.

God bless,
Mikey